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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced the results of a two-week undercover sting operation as part of a police investigation into where store owners and operators were selling the vape products to minors.
“Operation Vape Out” led to 32 violations issued to employees out of the 137 locations that were randomly chosen. In Suffolk County, customers must be at least 21 years old to purchase vape or tobacco products.
“This type of conduct will not be tolerated, and we will continue to enforce the law to keep our children safe,” Bellone noted.
According to the New York State Health Department, 40 percent of high school seniors and 27 percent of all high school students statewide use e-cigarettes. High school students also use e-cigarettes at rates five times higher than adults over the age of 25.
The Department of Health noted that e-cigarette aerosol users inhale and exhale is not harmless water vapor. Some e-liquids are advertised as nicotine-free, but this may not be true. With or without nicotine, e-cigarette aerosol is unsafe. E-cigarette aerosol can contain:
- Fine and ultrafine toxic particles that can interfere with the growth and work of the lungs and increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, and asthma attacks;
- heavy metals such as lead, tin, and nickel;
- chemicals used for flavoring such as diacetyl that can cause a serious lung disease commonly known as "popcorn lung"; and
- volatile organic compounds that can cause long-term health effects including cancer.
- Many of the chemicals found in cigarette smoke are also found in e-cigarette aerosol. They include:
- formaldehyde, also found in embalming fluid;
- cadmium, used in batteries;
- benzene, found in gasoline; and
- toluene, an industrial solvent.
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